Bottle

Abstract

A bottle constructed to resist distortion and denting upon handling through distribution and/or expansion and contraction of its contents. An upper portion has a rounded upper shoulder and a series of grooves. A bottom portion is concave and has a plurality of alternating generally vertically extending long and short swirl grooves, the spaces between the long swirl grooves above the short swirl grooves being smooth to easily flex in and out to contract and expand. A main circumferential groove separates the upper and bottom portions and has a depth such that it can flex vertically when a vertical force is applied tending to push the upper portion against the bottom portion.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a bottle, and in particular it relates to a plastic bottle with improved resistance to deformation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Plastic bottles for beverages and the like are well known and are available in a virtually limitless number of sizes and shapes. Such plastic bottles are inherently susceptible to deformation such as by denting due to forces exerted on the bottle during handling through distribution channels and/or due to expansion and contraction of the contents of the bottle. Such deformations are a major concern not only because of the possibility for compromising the structural integrity of the bottle, but also because of customer appeal in that a customer will reject a dented or otherwise deformed bottle as unacceptable, even if it is still structurally intact.

Thus, there exists a continuing need for bottles of the type described which will maintain their original design shape by resisting deformation due to external factors such as forces exerted in handling and expansion and contraction of the contents of the bottle.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved plastic bottle which provides better resistance to deformation due to external forces or expansion/contraction of the contents of the bottle.

The bottle which is the subject of the present invention is of a type having an upper portion, a label area in the upper portion, a shoulder above the label area, and a bottom portion.

One advantageous feature of the present invention is the design of the shoulder such that when a force is exerted on the shoulder, it will not permanently dent, as has been known to occur in the past, but in fact will reliably pop out. This result of course requires at least some degree of pressure within the bottle. Structurally, this result is achieved by designing the transition from the label area to the shoulder area with a relatively large radius of curvature so that it is a gradual rather than a sharp curve.

Another advantageous feature of the present invention is the provision of a relatively deep horizontal circumferential groove separating the upper portion from the bottom portion of the bottle. This relatively deep groove, coupled with a step on the lower side thereof, preferably just beneath the label area, accommodates expansion and contraction of the contents of the bottle to accommodate changes in volume due to temperature changes and changes in altitude and to maintain hoop stiffness of the bottle. Additionally, this main relatively deep horizontal groove resists forces on the bottle from the top or side which would tend to deflect the upper portion of the bottle or collapse it down into the lower portion of the bottle, instead, resisting such forces and returning the bottle to its original shape. The smaller grooves in the label area, which are known per se, are also helpful in contributing to stiffness and directing vertical forces downwardly into the large main horizontal groove wherein they are more positively deflected.

Another feature of the present invention which contributes to its ability to resist deformation is a series of unequal size, generally vertical swirl grooves in the bottom portion of the bottle, including relatively long swirl grooves alternating with short swirl grooves. These swirl grooves allow controlled localized expansion and contraction of the product in the bottle to accommodate changes in volume due to temperature changes and/or changes in volume due to altitude. The grooves contribute to rigidity and the space between the long swirl grooves above the short swirl grooves provides a smooth area which will accommodate expansion and contraction.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved bottle of the type described which better resists deformation due to external forces.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the brief description of the drawings which follows, together with the detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

There follows a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, to be read together with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a bottle, constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a central cross sectional view of the bottle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlargement of the central portion of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, like elements are represented by like numbers throughout the several views.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are essentially identical except that the right side elevational view of FIG. 2 is provided to better show the pattern of the swirl grooves in the bottom portion of the bottle.

The plastic bottle 10 is of the type intended for liquids such as beverages. The bottle includes a conventional threaded spout 11. Below the spout 11 is a shoulder 12 bounded at its lower end by a curved bottom 13 below which there is provided a label area 14 which has conventional horizontal reinforcing grooves 15.

Below the label area 14 is a main relatively deep horizontal circumferential groove 20 which includes a fairly large step 21 on the bottom thereof, which step leads to a bottom portion 22. The bottom portion 22 includes a plurality of relatively long vertical swirl grooves 23 which alternate with shorter swirl grooves 24. In the illustrated embodiment, there are three long swirl grooves 23 alternating with three short swirl grooves 24, but of course the number of such swirl grooves can be varied, depending on the particular design. Above the short swirl grooves 24 between adjacent long swirl grooves 23 there is provided a smooth area. It is noted that the natural shape of the bottom portion 22 is somewhat concave. This smooth area 25 is adaptable to flex outwardly in the event of expansion of the contents of the bottle. The short swirl grooves are generally about one-half the length of the long swirl grooves, but this can be varied for particular designs.

The shoulder 12 is particularly susceptible to denting both because of its uppermost location and because it is a wider part of the bottle such that it will contact adjacent bottles while being distributed in commerce. In the past, it has been found that upper portions of such bottles would dent permanently as a result of external forces and not pop back out. Such dented bottles would be rejected by the consumer as unacceptable. It has been found that enlarging the radius of curvature in the curved bottom 13, coupled with a slight pressure inside the bottle, such as 3 psig, causes any dent in the shoulder 14 to pop out. Such internal pressure can be added by a gas such as nitrogen or by other means such as carbonization. The exact enlarged radius of curvature will depend upon the size of the bottle. In one arrangement, for a 1500 ml bottle having a height of 239.4 mm from the bottom up to the bottom of the shoulder, a radius of curvature in the upper portion of the shoulder, in the vicinity of numeral 12 would be approximately 45 mm while a radius of curvature in the area of curved bottom 13 would be approximately 26 mm. While these represent preferred dimensions for a particular size bottle, it will be understood that these dimensions can vary, so long as they provide an arrangement wherein the transition from the label area to the shoulder is of a large enough radius of curvature, i.e., not a sharp transition.

While grooves such as reinforcing grooves 15 have been known per se, it is believed new to provide a relatively large main horizontal circumferential groove such as groove 20. While the size and depth of the groove will vary for different size and shaped bottles, in the example having the dimensions as described above, this horizontal circumferential groove 20 would have an external radius of curvature of approximately 2.3 mm and an inside radius of curvature above groove 20 of approximately 2.8 mm and the radius of curvature below the groove 20 in the vicinity of step 21 would be approximately 2.7 mm. It can be noted from FIG. 4 that groove 20 is significantly larger than the conventional grooves 15.

This relatively large groove 20 with its step 21 accommodates expansion and contraction of the contents of the bottle due to changes in temperature and altitude and it maintains the hoop stiffness of the bottle. Also, if the bottle is impacted from above or from the side, this large groove would tend to deflect such forces in a way that mitigates or reduces the impact, thus returning the bottle to its original shape.

In a preferred arrangement, the bottle is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is blown by the stretch blow molding process. However, the results of the present invention are achieved by other materials including polypropylene or other suitable materials. While the dimensions described above are for a 1500 ml bottle, the invention is applicable to bottles of any size, wherein the dimensions would be selected as appropriate for the particular size bottle.

Although the invention has been described above in relation to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations and modifications can be effected in these preferred embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A bottle comprising an upper portion, a bottom portion and a main horizontal circumferential groove separating the upper and bottom portions, the groove having a depth that resists substantial downward forces exerted on the upper portion so as to retain the upper portion in its original shape.

2. A bottle according to claim 1, the bottom portion comprising a plurality of generally vertically extending swirl grooves, including long swirl grooves alternating with short swirl grooves, a smooth area being located between the long swirl grooves above the intervening short swirl grooves.

3. A bottle according to claim 2, wherein the smooth areas are adapted to flex inwardly and outwardly upon a pressure differential between the inside and outside of the bottle.

4. A bottle according to claim 3, wherein the bottom portion of the bottle is concave.

5. A bottle according to claim 1, wherein the main circumferential groove has sufficient depth to flex vertically when a vertical force is applied tending to push the upper portion against the bottom portion, without the upper portion skewing laterally or collapsing onto the lower portion.

6. A bottle according to claim 1, wherein the upper portion includes at the top thereof a rounded shoulder.

7. A bottle according to claim 6, including a label area below the rounded shoulder having a diameter less than the maximum diameter of the shoulder and the radius of curvature between the label area and the upper rounded shoulder is sufficiently large to resist denting by returning a dented area to its original shape.

8. A bottle comprising an upper portion with a rounded shoulder, a bottom portion having alternating long and short generally vertical extending swirl grooves and a main circumferential groove separating the upper and bottom portions, whereby the bottle accommodates expansion and contraction of the contents of the bottle without distortion or denting.

9. A bottle according to claim 8, including a plurality of circumferential grooves in the upper portion having a depth less than that of the main circumferential groove.

10. A bottle according to claim 8, wherein the main circumferential groove has sufficient depth to flex vertically when a vertical force is applied tending to push the upper portion against the bottom portion, without the upper portion skewing laterally or collapsing onto the lower portion.

11. A bottle comprising an upper portion having a rounded upper shoulder, a main circumferential groove below the upper portion, and a bottom portion beneath the main circumferential groove, the rounded shoulder having a radius of curvature selected such that when the inside of the bottle is under pressure and the rounded upper shoulder is dented, the dented area will return to its original shape.

12. A bottle according to claim 11, the upper portion beneath the rounded upper shoulder having a plurality of circumferential grooves of less depth than the main circumferential groove.

13. A bottle according to claim 12, the bottom portion comprising a plurality of generally vertically extending swirl grooves, including long swirl grooves alternating with short swirl grooves, a smooth area being located between the long swirl grooves above the intervening short swirl grooves.

14. A bottle according to claim 13, wherein the smooth areas are adapted to flex inwardly and outwardly upon a pressure differential between the inside and outside of the bottle.

15. A bottle according to claim 14, wherein there are three long swirl grooves and three short swirl grooves.